It's called "charisma " - for those who think it's the most important thing in a politician.

JD Vance and the United States have no right to lecture the UK on law enforcement or how to police. Sort your own house out.

2050 for England to join EU✔️. #IrishUnity and #ScottishIndependence will be a cathartic event for England. Only then will they get out of their current paralysis.

“The sooner the better that Keir Starmer walks out of Downing Street... We want him to go. Everyone wants him to go. We can’t stand him actually… he’s not for the people.” Burnham walks past opportunity to appear magnanimous, statesmanlike, and to acknowledge Labour’s achievements.

❗️Ukrainian drone strikes hit a tanker and two bulk carriers in Taganrog Bay at 05:00, leaving five people dead and six injured, according to information cited by Izvestia. The attack targeted the vessels off Krasnodar Krai, causing multiple casualties in the early morning hours. #Russia

New Survation poll of Makerfield has Burnham 10 points up. LAB: 49% (+6) REF: 39% (-1) RTR: 8% (+1) GRN: 2% (-1) LDEM: 1% (-3) CON: 1% (-1)

🚨🚨 Huge breaking news from Brussels: Hungary has lifted its two-year-long veto on Ukraine's EU accession. Ukraine and Moldova will soon be able to open the first cluster of the accession process. The saga is over.

aw man I sure hate it when operational decisions directly affecting combat on the ground are being influenced in real time by a foreign country. really feeling bad for the IDF guys here us18.campaign-archive.com/?e=2128a5bfb...

Privatised British water companies have proved very good at paying out dividends to shareholders and bonuses to Chief Executives but very bad at supplying safe drinking water. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

The #EUWesternBalkans summit will take place tomorrow in Tivat, Montenegro. On the agenda: 📌progress made in the gradual integration of the Western Balkans into the EU 📌opportunities and challenges associated with the enlargement process Read more → link.europa.eu/H4RW8d

The Ωcc⁺ is hadron number 85 found at the LHC. 75 have been found by LHCb. 31 are three-quark baryons, of which only three are weakly decaying (the other ones are excited states that decay via a strong interaction). The full list is at www.koppenburg.ch/particles.html . /end

📣 Public announcement: we are closing a multiplet! 🧪⚛️

Webb sniffs methane from interstellar Comet #3IATLAS using its MIRI instrument. The fact that methane was observed only after the comet’s close pass to the Sun suggests that it was buried below the comet’s surface. 🔭 🧪 1/2

🎁 We will not celebrate until he’s gone. www.theatlantic.com/politics/202...

Heidi Alexander: "Today we've renationalised the UK's largest train operator. Passengers will see fewer last-minute cancellations, cleaner toilets and more services to Gatwick Airport. We are building Great British Railways. 🇬🇧🚆" www.lbc.co.uk/article/govi...

Amazing imaginative photography by Spanish duo Anna Devís and Daniel Rueda. TT: ClawClips

Thought for the Day:

Yet another poll that’s found that more people want Starmer to stay in post than don’t. It’s a trend.

I’ve lost track of all the mad and bad things that Reform’s Makerfield candidate has said. From misogyny to absurd conspiracy theories and pro-Russia propaganda. What’s amazing is this is their top candidate. The guy they have chosen to fight the biggest by-election in living memory. This guy.

Anne Keast-Butler, GCHQ's director, said today that "new intelligence" shows that "almost half a million Russian soldiers have been killed" in the Ukraine war. That is a remarkable number—not least because SIS' Richard Moore gave a figure of 250,000 Russians killed just eight months ago.

The Iran war has shown the weakness of states relying on imported energy. So electrification combined with renewables (made in EU by EU companies) & #nuclear is the way forward in the new reality. 🇪🇺 #EUsky #EUEnergySecurity #ClimateChange

Nice to get this trending in response to ‘those posts’. Save and use freely.

Scientists found a surprising factor in recent warming: cuts in sulfur dioxide (SO2) pollution. It seems about two-thirds of warming since 2001 might be due to fewer sulfate aerosols, meaning less reflective clouds. 🤔

A livestream of a volcano in the Philippines captured a meteor crashing to Earth today. What are the odds? Mayon Volcano, Location: Albay, Luzon, Philippines

Fuck Burnham and ANYONE who tries to unseat Starmer. He’s not failing at PM he’s had success after success with the manifesto commitments. WTF do people want?? A dig in the ribs is what they need. Tossers.

Can we talk about Cuba?

The constituency of Makerfield, where an important by-election will be held, is riddled with oddities and contradictions. But it is no weirder than the rest of British politics econ.st/43nPYia Illustration: Nate Kitch

This is - on so many levels - a fascinating article about the Iran War, US intelligence, and why and how the Trump administration apparently chose not to listen to it.

The Makerfield byelection poll by Survation: nb, based on 369 respondents likely to vote and with a voting intention. Suggests it is close to a dead heat, Labour v Reform, at the start.

I find it hard to believe that anyone could argue this in good faith given what’s happened in the US with DOGE.

Inside an African lab that helped crack the hantavirus outbreak www.reuters.com/business/hea...

For the first time since the Brexit referendum, the idea of asking to return to the EU is on Britain’s political horizon. The journey would be long, tortuous—and worth it econ.st/4tUutjY Illustration: Peter Schrank

Compilation of US military aircraft losses in US/Isreal war with Iran gives 42-46 lost or damaged, including fighter jets, drones, refuelling tankers and surveillance planes Primarily from a Congressional Research Service report prepared for Congress (13 May). www.everycrsreport.com/reports/IN12...

Related ->

Alberta - Independence Polling: 🔴 Remain: 60% 🔵 Leave: 28% ⚪️ Unsure: 12% Mainstreet / April 22, 2026

More good news for citizens. The Chancellor, making life a little easier for us all. 🌹

So many announcements from our Government it’s hard to keep up!! In just the last 24 hours these 11 bring change, improvement and hope to ordinary people in Britain. Even the media are reluctantly telling you about a few of these!!! #DoingTheMediasJob #FixingBritain #Labour

Yesterday two European institutions published this extremely good paper on future UK-EU ties. It deserves proper attention coming from there so to speak and being based on serious engagement with experts on both sides. Some key points follow... www.bertelsmann-stiftung.de/en/publicati...

When Kagan speaks, people need to listen.

"On the present trajectory, Iran will emerge from the conflict many times stronger and more influential than it was before the war. It will exercise leverage with dozens of the richest nations in the world." From Robert Kagan, @theatlantic.com www.theatlantic.com/internationa...

This appears to be the current state according to open council data although I think they are using different metrics to me as their reform count is higher than mine. I am only counting exits since the local elections.

ONS reports retail spending up 0.5% Feb to April 2026 More good news for the economy. If you put the minimum wage up, put pensions up and cut two child caps it’s amazing that people spend money. They don’t have off shore bank accounts.

They will be closing these hotels that the Tory’s opened for good. 👏👏👏

Well that didn't last long www.thetimes.com/uk/politics/...

Perhaps the Greens should just sit this one out.

This is good :-)

Every Reform UK Councillor that has gone, with reasons. This is superb: